


All Through The Night

by heytheregisela



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Fake AH Crew, High School AU, M/M, Mavin, RageHappy, pre fake ah crew
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-23
Updated: 2015-07-23
Packaged: 2018-04-10 18:40:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4402946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heytheregisela/pseuds/heytheregisela
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How one night of being rudely awaken by someone parked outside of his house with their motorcycle on turns into exactly what Gavin needed. But even after numerous nightly rides together, Michael remains the everlasting mystery to him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All Through The Night

**Author's Note:**

> Because I couldn’t stop thinking about Michael riding a motorcycle and then gta verse, so somehow this happened.
> 
> The title is from "[All Through The Night](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf4arzZXEiA)" by Sleeping At Last. :)

The sounds of an engine roaring to life felt as a dream at first, or perhaps that was only because Gavin wanted to be dreaming. From the second he got into his bed at nine, he knew falling asleep would be a challenge and he wasn't proven wrong. However, he eventually did manage to drift off for a bit, sometime before he saw the time turn to midnight... and then the noise began.

Gavin groaned as his eyes fluttered open and he was met with the darkness of his bedroom. It wasn't even morning yet and he was already awake. So much for wanting a full night's sleep for the first time in a month. He would be lucky if he could fall back asleep for at least another few hours.

_Vroom, vroom!_

But that definitely wouldn't be happening until whoever in their bloody mind decided it was a _wonderful_ idea to be so obnoxiously loud with their vehicle after midnight on a weekday went away! Honestly... Gavin had be up and ready for school in less than seven hours.

“Has someone lost their mind?!” He heard his mother's voice from beyond his bedroom door and he quickly jumped out of his bed to go see her, slipping into his shoes quickly on his way out. She was pacing back and forth in the hallway, her phone pressed to her ear and Gavin sighed.

“You won't have any luck with that,” he told her.

“What are we supposed to do then? There is a person outside our home with their motorcycle and it is almost one in the morning!”

“Well, we wouldn't have to deal with problems like these if we didn't live here,” Gavin grumbled, running his fingers through his mess of hair.

His mother slowly put her phone down as she stared at him, brows furrowed and eyes narrowed. “You will _not_ speak to me with that kind of attitude, Gavin. You know we only moved here for your father's sake.”

Gavin stifled the yawn yearning to escape and huffed instead at the mention of his father. “And where is he now, Mum? Hmm?” The question may have came out a little more harsh than he had expected, but his mother said nothing else on the subject. She turned away from him and Gavin tried not imagining the pained look that was most likely plastered on her face, wounded by his words. Even so, he didn't try apologizing.

The engine roared loudly again outside and Gavin shook his head before taking off down the stairs.

“Where are you going?!” His mother frantically asked after him.

“Go back to sleep. I'll talk to whoever is out there,” he stated firmly, not once glancing back to see her reaction to all of this. She didn't try stopping him anyway.

Gavin swung the front door open and instantly saw the source of his annoyance and interruption of his sleep. Seated calmly upon his motorcycle was a boy who looked no older than Gavin; he wore a brown leather jacket that looked a little too big on him in some areas and faded blue jeans with gaping holes on the knees. His shoes were also very worn out that Gavin idly wondered how the hell this guy could still walk around in them.

“Hey,” Gavin then spoke, loud enough to be heard over that dreadful roar. The other teen looked up and over at him and Gavin realized that he hadn't just been sitting – he'd also been polishing the damn vehicle. “What are you _doing_?!” A grin spread its way across the stranger's face and Gavin raised his eyebrows, taken aback by the innocence of his face.

“I was going for a ride when I noticed that she needed a little cleaning up,” the stranger said, reaching his hand forward and shutting the motorcycle off. Finally.

“And what, you decided parking in front of _my_ home was the best place to do that?”

“It just happened to be where I stopped. Relax, dude.”

Gavin felt his eyes twitched and he stomped closer toward him, his hands curling into fists. “I can't _relax._ You woke me up! Do you have _any_ idea how hard I've been trying to sleep?!”

“No? I don't know you.”

“I-” Gavin stopped himself and sighed deeply. “If you stopped here to polish that, what was the point of turning it on?” Oh how much he was attempting _not_ to scream at this guy... Speaking with his clenched teeth seemed to be the only solution at the moment.

“Earlier she was making some weird noises and I just wanted to check if she was still making those,” the guy was answering so causally, like he simply didn't care about the consequences of his decisions. Although Gavin was seething, he did wonder to himself how someone could actually be like that – uncaring and reckless. He knew this was Los Santos and almost everyone had that kind of attitude, but he hadn't even been living there for more than a year and he just couldn't get used to it yet. He supposed he had to soon if more people like the one in front of him continued coming around his home.

“Go away,” he then said sternly, crossing his arms in hopes that he would look somewhat intimidating. It probably didn't help that he was standing there with a plain t-shirt, sweatpants, and slippers on...

The guy looked him up and down once before raising an eyebrow and smirking. “You _seriously_ need to fucking relax.”

“I _will_ once you're gone! Now go!” Gavin shouted, pointing down the street, because any resistance he thought he could muster had left.

“My name's Michael, by the way,” the guy introduced himself, holding out his hand. Gavin blinked a few times before glancing down at the hand and then back up at Michael's face, frustrated and confused.

“I _don't_ care!”

“You have an accent. Where the hell are you from? You don't hear accents like that anywhere around here.”

“What are you- _everyone_ has an accent, you donut!”

“Shut the fuck up,” Michael grinned and Gavin gaped at him. The bastard was honestly finding the whole situation hilarious and Gavin was torn between wanting to yell at him more until he did go away or humor him to the point where he was satisfied and left.

“I'm British,” he answered, the irritation laced into his voice.

“What the fuck is a British person doing in Los Santos?”

“That's none of your business.”

Michael curled his lip to the side and shrugged. He looked as though he wanted to say something else before staring down at the small space in front of him where his helmet rested. “You know, I have a spare one,” he said, placing a hand on it.

Gavin's eyes widened. “Why would that matter to me?”

“I told you that you need to relax and the way I relax when I have a lot on my mind is,” he paused to gesture toward his motorcycle, “riding through the city at night.”

“And I told you that the only way I'm going to be relaxing is you being gone.”

“Me waking you up and being here isn't the only thing bothering you, which, by the way, I'll apologize for because I can tell you're dealing with enough shit already.”

At that, something seemed to stir uncomfortably in his chest and stomach. “You said you didn't know me and you don't, so how would you be able to tell?” Michael's expression shifted a little, to a bit more stoic and Gavin felt a lump form in his throat.

“How long have you lived here?” Michael suddenly asked, his head cocking to the side.

“Less than a year,” Gavin responded softly.

“Hmm,” Michael nodded. He looked away slightly as if considering something to himself before the conclusion hit him. That's when he met Gavin's eyes again. “I've lived here for about four years now. Moved with my uncle from New Jersey,” he was staring at Gavin after saying that, seeming to be waiting for Gavin to respond a certain way, but the Brit didn't move or say anything as he continued to listen.

“This is going to sound stupid,” Michael went on, “but you remind me a lot of myself when I first got here.” Gavin snorted. “I'm being serious, asshole. I was... a _good_ little kid once.”

“What happened to you?” Gavin asked and he didn't miss the twinge that flashed in Michael's eyes for a second; he just decided against commenting on it.

“The same thing that will happen to you,” Michael blandly replied. Gavin squinted at him as he looked over his face, searching for that humorous attitude from earlier. It wasn't there anymore. Gavin roughly swallowed and averted his eyes.

Michael sighed as he raised his helmet, “So, how does a quick ride around sound?”

“I'm not getting on that thing with you,” Gavin mumbled, turning around to begin heading to the front door.

“Alright.” That terrifyingly loud roar that had originally waken Gavin up was back and he found himself staring at Michael over his shoulder. Michael caught him and offered him a small smile. “It was nice, uh, talking to you, British boy.”

Gavin turned fully back around, glaring. “It's _Gavin_.”

“Gavin,” Michael drawled out. Gavin's eyes shifted to the helmet Michael was still holding up and jumped when he heard Michael's voice again, “So, that is a definite 'no' on the ride, right?”

“You do realize I don't like you and the more I stand here talking to you, the more I know I won't ever be able to,” Gavin said it more as a statement rather than a question and Michael wasn't sure whether to respond or not.

“A 'no' would have been enough.”

“You disturbed my mum and me this late at night when I was _hoping_ that I would finally get some nice rest, but _you_ had to come along and ruin that-”

“Shit, nice meeting you, too,” Michael said under his breath.

“-maybe this is the worst decision I'll ever make and I might end up being killed and tossed into the ocean, but where is your spare helmet?”

Michael whipped his head up to gawk at Gavin, but Gavin showed no sign that he was kidding around. “Wait, so, you're... you're serious?”

“I asked a question first.”

“Well, I, uh-” Michael sputtered, looking around like he was going to find the answer on the ground. He then practically shoved the helmet that was in his hands at Gavin and Gavin raised an eyebrow questioningly as he took it. “So, I don't actually have a spare one, but it's fine; I don't really wear it anyway.”

Gavin groaned, though was he surprised? No, not at all. And he knew that was something that probably should have told him to walk away while he still could, but he didn't. He swiftly put the helmet on and swung a leg over the seat of the motorcycle to situate himself behind Michael. This was the same person that was the reason he wasn't asleep. This was the same person he stomped out of his house with full intention on arguing with until they left. This was the same person he wanted to be angry at, but he didn't really feel angry anymore. He felt determined, determined to get away from his home for a while. Home was a place of comfort from some, but he couldn't recall when it stopped feeling that way for him. Now it was merely the place he ate and slept and he was sick of it. He was sick of the same routine he went through there every morning and every night. But it wasn't like school was any better.

Nobody bothered looking his way as he walked through the hallways from class to class. Nobody ever tried starting up a conversation with him because he was still considered a new student and everyone already had their own friends. Nobody dared noticing that he existed around them.

But here was Michael, a stranger who wanted him to ride around the city with him in hopes that it would make him feel better and Gavin _hated_ to admit how much that meant to him. He didn't know anything about Michael besides his name and that he moved to Los Santos from New Jersey with his uncle and how apparently they were a lot alike. Normally that wouldn't be enough, not even close, to risk his life, but he was just passed his limit of caring.

“Hold on tight, alright?” Michael instructed. Gavin placed his hands on his shoulders and gripped them tightly, but not enough to cause true discomfort. “I would feel better if you just wrapped your arms around my middle,” Michael told him.

“I'm not wrapping my arms around anything of yours.”

Michael laughed and Gavin furrowed his eyebrows as he thought about how adorable that sounded.

“Suit yourself,” Michael said, still giggling a bit before grabbing the handlebars and moving the vehicle slightly to test Gavin's reaction. It had been such a small movement but Gavin thought he was going to fall over with just that and his arms immediately went around Michael's waist.

Michael grinned as he peeked at Gavin over his shoulder, “I don't wanna be that guy, but I told you so.”

“Answer me something,” Gavin spoke, completely ignoring everything else. Michael's eyebrows twitched together.

“What?”

“Can I... can I trust you?”

Michael softened his expression. The question itself had caught him off guard and the way Gavin had asked it, uneasiness to his tone, made him frown. “As long as I can trust you,” he whispered and Gavin barely heard him over the engine. The Brit nodded frantically and Michael smiled once more at him before facing the road ahead. Gavin glanced up at his house. Well, there was still a chance for him to run if he wanted to.

But he didn't.

Then they were off and Gavin felt himself being thrust forward onto Michael's back, squeezing against it more than he'd already been. He squinted his eyes as world around the two of them whirled past in a blur. His heart was pounding wildly in his chest, making him wonder for a moment if Michael could feel from how close they were, but it wasn't from fear. He didn't feel fear.

The more he watched the buildings disappear within his view before he could try figuring out what part of the city they were in, the more he listened to the roars of the engine and the more he felt Michael's stomach slowly rising and falling, the more relief he felt.

And he smiled.

 

* * *

 

From that night on, the nightly rides became some sort of regular thing. Neither of them stated that they would see each other another time after Michael dropped Gavin off at his house, but when Michael showed up the next night, Gavin didn't complain. It helped how his mother either had no clue what was going on or she did and couldn't be bothered with caring.

Of course, it didn't always occur every night. There had actually been an entire week where Michael didn't show up at all and when Gavin asked him where he'd been, Michael shrugged and said, “I've been busy.” Sure, Gavin could have believed that, but with the way Michael had a difficult time making eye contact with him while he said it, Gavin knew the whole truth wasn't there. He didn't question him further, though, for the sake of not having their plans crumble. It was selfish on his part, he would admit, but he would also admit that he was sure Michael wouldn't have told him if he had tried asking again.

But each night they went out together for those rides, Gavin felt a fondness for Michael grow after it was over. He would crawl into his bed, his lips threatening to rise higher than they already were, and he would think back to the events, and he would realize just how well he was getting to know Michael. He wouldn't realize it while it was happening, but before and after the ride, they would talk and things would be said, things would be confessed. It would never be anything big, but it was enough to allow them to grow closer. And so Gavin's fondness increased.

With almost two months into this, another week came and went where Michael didn't show up. Gavin would attempt his hardest to fall asleep that week every night. Sometimes he would think he heard Michael's motorcycle and he would jump up to run to his window and see, but no one would be there. There was nothing he could do, though. Michael was seventeen, turning eighteen in July, that much he told Gavin one night, yet he refused to tell Gavin what school he attended. It was certainly not Gavin's, because Gavin had tried looking him up there. None of the Michaels he saw were the one he knew. So Gavin couldn't try talking to him during school.

Michael also didn't have a phone or anything where Gavin could communicate with him through, at least not anything Gavin knew about. They never bothered discussing that and during that week, Gavin had regretted never bringing that up. Seriously, they had known each other for about seven weeks and not once did they ask for each other's numbers? Well, that was just how it seemed to be with Michael. He would be very open about some things and very mysterious about everything else, like he was afraid of being figured out completely. Gavin could respect that, because he had a few things of his own that he dreaded talking about.

So Gavin was left wondering that entire week, where Michael had gone off to. Perhaps he had gotten tired of hanging around Gavin? It _was_ a possibility and Gavin wouldn't have blamed him. Then there was also the possibility that something terrible had happened to Michael. Gavin wasn't going to pretend like he forgot about the times Michael almost put both of their lives in danger for making sudden turns and running red lights. They would get lucky each time and would still be alive by the time they made it back to his house, but maybe Michael's luck had run out.

What if he was in the hospital? What if he was dying? What if he was already- no, no Gavin wasn't going to let himself think about that possibility at all. He avoided those thoughts as best as he could, but it tore him apart inside to just _not_ know where Michael was and if he was okay.

That week had been a very long one, the longest one for Gavin yet. So when it ended and he heard the familiar roar of an engine on Sunday night, he was close to falling face first onto his floor from how fast he got out of bed.

When he made it outside and saw the familiar sight of Michael sitting calmly on his bike, polishing the spot in front of him as he had the very first night, Gavin breathed out a laugh and ran toward him. Michael barely looked up in time before Gavin was _there_ and arms were embracing him tightly. There was hesitance, Gavin could sense it, but he was eventually hugged in return.

“Where the bloody hell have you been?” He then asked as he pulled away to stare at Michael.

“Been busy,” Michael murmured, averting his eyes... just like had the last time he disappeared for a week. To avoid anymore questions, he held up the helmet for Gavin.

Gavin glanced back and forth between that and Michael's face. After a long moment of silence, he snatched it and Michael scooted up a little to give Gavin more room, but he froze when he saw Gavin tossing the helmet aside.

“What the fuck are you doing?” He asked.

“I trust you,” Gavin simply said as he got onto the back.

Michael swallowed roughly and side eyed the helmet now lying on the grass, but he nodded once and off they went as soon as he felt Gavin's arms around him once again. Gavin rested his forehead against Michael's back, taking in the musky scent of his leather jacket that he'd grown so used to, and he closed his eyes, so he didn't notice when they began to slow down until Michael spoke.

“Gav, look.”

Gavin blinked his eyes open and stared out at the water ahead of them, sparkling under the moonlight. He looked down to see the sand underneath them and then upward at the pier on their left.

“Why are we here?”

Michael shut his motorcycle off as he shrugged. “I wanted us to do something different this time,” his voice was so soft. He allowed Gavin to climb off first before following suit and holding out his hand. Gavin was too distracted by the sight of the sparkling water, something he'd never seen before (he never had a reason to go out to the beach after midnight) to notice the hand Michael was offering. Michael cleared his throat to catch his attention, despite hating breaking that beautiful mesmerized look on the Brit's face.

Gavin blinked hard and turned to him, his gaze immediately dropping to see the hand. His lips twitched as he took it into his and as their fingers intertwined, he held his breath along with his heart rate picking up. Michael led the way, halfway toward the middle of the beach, just where the water could barely reach them with its current calm waves. He held onto Gavin's hand as he started sitting himself down on the sand and gave the hand a small tug. Gavin joined him seconds later, scooting closer until little space remained between them and though their hands departed, the warmth that had formed within him stayed. He thought about saying something or maybe asking why Michael had particularly wanted to go here. Well, it was probably the most decent (and safest place) to hang around in Los Santos at night, since most of the trouble was always in the streets, and even sometimes the sky, so Gavin could see that being Michael's reasoning.

Yet, he kept his mouth shut. The silence between them was comforting anyway and it was how half of their nights went usually, except silence would be replaced by roaring engines and honking cars. So maybe this time Michael merely wanted to have their quiet time to be with the sounds of water and talking would only occur once they were back at Gavin's, just like always.

But Michael surprised him again.

“I know you're British and all, but did you move from wherever you lived in the UK directly to here? Or was there somewhere else first?” Gavin blinked as he turned his head to face Michael and ignored the leap his heart made at the fact that Michael was staring back intently.

“We moved directly here,” he answered, “and it's been terrible.” He licked his lips as he realized how unnerving it wasn't to be making this much eye contact with Michael. He didn't feel the need to look down or away. No, he didn't mind it a bit. Having those light brown eyes paying attention to nothing else around them but him was... nice, and he had to bit the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling at the thought. The only thing that bothered him slightly was that he couldn't quite read the expression on Michael's face. It was definitely nothing harsh, but other than that, he wasn't sure.

“You had to leave your home to come live in this shit hole?” Michael then asked. His tone was also undetectable. Gavin nodded and he tensed where he sat, mentally preparing himself for another question to follow.

To his absolute relief, there wasn't another question. Instead, he got Michael saying, “I remember being so fucking happy when I first moved here. I thought it was the best thing that could happen to me, because I felt free... I felt like I could do anything.”

“But you were wrong?”

Michael raised an eyebrow and shifted his gaze out to the water. “You wanna know the one good thing about Los Santos?”

“Uh,” Gavin looked around at their surroundings and gestured toward it with his arms, “this beach?” Michael smirked and looked at him again.

“That there's actually people like you here. It kinda gives the city hope, in my opinion.”

Gavin could feel his face getting warm and he was suddenly thankful it was nighttime. “I'm not anything special, Michael...”

“I didn't say you were.”

And Gavin's face fell. “Oh, well thank you,” he rolled his eyes, making Michael laugh.

“You're... you're something, Gavin,” Michael told him.

“I hope you mean that in a good sense.”

Michael let out a loud sigh as he started lying back onto the sand, placing one arm behind his head and staring up at the dark sky. Gavin looked up at it as well, frowning as he saw how blank it appeared.

“You told me once that what happened to you is the same thing that's going to happen to me,” he said, recalling the night they met.

“It's what usually happens to people who haven't lived here their whole lives.”

“But what do you _mean_? What is going to happen, exactly?”

“Look, Gavin, in my experience, it's just... sometimes it's easier not to resist.”

“Resist what?”

Michael squinted his eyes over at Gavin. “Are you seriously asking what? Have you been paying any fucking attention?” Gavin flashed him a quick hurt look before furrowing his eyebrows. Michael tried not dwelling on those few seconds that he witnessed Gavin's offended look and went on to add, “You're different, alright? You're not... you're not me. So I was wrong when I said that. You're so much better than I first thought and that's why I said it gives this city hope. All we need is more people like you and we wouldn't have the reputation we've earned.”

“Thank you... I think,” Gavin whispered. Michael just shook his head and was back to staring at the night sky. “Are you happy, Michael?” The question was so sudden that he didn't really know what he was asking until he heard himself asking it. What Michael had said about first moving to Los Santos was replaying in his mind and the question sort of made its way out as he lingered onto that word... _happy._

“Happy,” Michael repeated, as if trying to figure out how to answer that. It wasn't long before their eyes were once again locked. “I'll get back to you on that one.” Gavin just smiled in return and lied back next to Michael.

His eyelids were heavy, daring to close at any moment. Michael may have noticed, because he flung his arm around Gavin and pulled him closer, close enough for Gavin to rest his head on his shoulder. There was not a chance for him to stay awake.

* * *

 

Gavin gasped out as his eyes opened and he was brought out of the dream he'd been having, one he already wasn't sure was about, but it was anything but pleasant. He rubbed his eyes with the backs of his hands until the soreness in them settled aside. A breeze brushed against his skin, instantly reminding him of where he was and why he was still there. He gasped again and sat up abruptly to see the water making its way onto the shore and failing to reach his feet.

“Gavin,” he heard a groan next to him and looked to see Michael blinking his eyes open at him.

“It's morning! It's-it's morning, oh, bollocks! I have to go to _school_!” Gavin was speaking so rapidly that Michael was having a hard time comprehending what the hell was he panicking about, especially with how half asleep he was still.

“What?” He simply asked, his voice raspy and low.

Gavin began patting himself down, his breathing being faster than usual. “I don't have my phone with me! I don't know what time it is! What if I'm late?! I've never been late! I-” Oh, now Michael understood.

“Gavin,” he interrupted, placing a hand on the Brit's shoulder, “First of all, slow the fuck down. Second of all, it's _one_ day that you're late. It's not going to kill you.”

“But I have a test! I have a test today and I'm-I'm not _there_!” Gavin was making a series of outrageous hand gestures and Michael's expression softened.

“When's your test?”

“Well, uh, it's for my last class, but-”

“Okay, then see? You're going to be fine. You didn't miss it yet since I doubt we slept through the whole morning. It's probably like nine or something, at the latest.”

Gavin took a deep breath to steady himself a little more before nodding, “Yes, but that doesn't make it much better.”

“I'm... I'm sorry. I didn't know school mattered that much to you,” Michael told him as he started to sit up as well. “I could give you a ride back to your house so you can get ready and then I can drop you off at your school.” Gavin chewed on his lower lip as he avoided making any eye contact with him and Michael sighed in what sounded like defeat.

“God damnit, Gavin,” he was talking again, softer this time, “Don't be upset. This is my fault, alright? I shouldn't have let you fall asleep... or actually, I shouldn't have let myself fall asleep. I shouldn't have brought us here-”

“What are you going on about?” Gavin stopped him, finally turning his head. “I don't blame you for any of this. I just had a little bit of a panic because it's never happened to me before, but I don't think it's your fault,” and he said it, he felt himself relax and he could see Michael visibly relax, too. “Last night was fun. _Every_ night with you is fun actually, and I know it was only a week that I didn't see you, but... I missed you, Michael.” The corners of Michael's mouth rose and Gavin smiled back at him. This was the first time they had seen each other when it wasn't dark out, so Gavin couldn't stop thinking about how adorable Michael looked with sand in his messy curls and morning sunlight showering over his pale complexion; it definitely gave a different effect than street lights did.

“Okay, let's take you back home,” Michael said, throwing his arms up to stretch. Gavin squeezed his eyebrows together. Home... the term was almost laughable to him.

“I don't want to go,” he whispered, although he had _just_ been panicking over being late for school. But he had told Michael the night before that he trusted him, and he did. He trusted Michael and he enjoyed his time with him, every second of it. He hated seeing it end every time they reached his house. Maybe this time he didn't want it to end.

“What?” Michael asked, putting his arms back down and staring bewilderingly at Gavin.

“You know how you said that when you first moved here you felt free and as if you could do anything?”

“Yeah.”

“That's how I feel when I'm with you.”

Michael raised his eyebrows, looking over Gavin's face to figure out if he had heard that correctly or if he imagined the whole thing. His answer was given when Gavin started to lean in closer to him, their faces becoming mere inches apart. He parted his lips as he stared dumbfounded into the Brit's green eyes and the leaning in paused. He sucked in sharply at the feeling of a hand run his through his hair, but his eyes fluttered shut at how comforting it did feel, and then he waited for what he hoped was to come next.

Gavin was fixated on Michael's lips as he continued threading his fingers in the auburn curls, absentmindedly removing the sand that had gotten lost within. He swallowed hard and leaned in a little more, tilting his head to the side and closing his eyes.

Their lips met gently, the nerves in their stomach causing some hesitance in their movements. Michael brought his own hand up to place behind Gavin's head and eventually, they found themselves falling into a blissful state together. It was when Gavin pulled away to kiss the side of his mouth and move lower that Michael was brought back to his senses momentarily and moved away completely. Gavin flinched and moved backward as well, giving Michael more space if he needed it.

“Michael-”

“I'm going to take you home now,” Michael mumbled as he jumped to his feet, brushing his jacket off. Gavin blinked up at him.

“We can wait a little longer-”

“It's better if we just go now. The beach gets crowded sometimes...”

“But Michael-”

“Gavin, just fucking _come on_ ,” Michael turned around and started heading back to where his motorcycle was parked. Gavin scrambled to his feet and hurried after him, scratching his head in confusion.

“I don't understand,” he confessed. “I thought we were having a good time. I'm so sorry,” he sounded genuinely upset and Michael cursed him mentally for that, for being so _Gavin_.

“Alright, look,” Michael sighed, turning around to face him, “I... I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think it's better if we _don't_ see each other anymore.” And Gavin's reaction to that was _everything_ Michael wished he never had to see. He never thought it was possible to see someone's light just shatter, right then and there on their face, but Michael saw every second of it play out on Gavin's. To Gavin's eyes widening, to his shoulders slumping, to his mouth falling agape, to his brows twitching.

“ _God_ , don't do that to me,” Michael muttered under his breath, averting his eyes because he couldn't stand another sight of that.

“Why would you say that?” Gavin asked.

“Because I'm serious, Gavin. I'm not someone you want to get involved with anymore than you already have.”

“Why wouldn't I? Michael, I like you. I like who you are and I like-”

“No, no, you don't,” Michael narrowed his eyes at Gavin, “You don't know me. You only know what I've told you and I'd feel better if you never found out anything else.”

Gavin folded his arms across his chest and shrugged. “I know you have secrets, Michael. I have secrets of my own. Everyone has them, and I wouldn't think any differently of you if you were to tell me.”

“I want to believe you – I _do_. But I know the way you look at me now; I don't want you to stop looking at me like that.”

“It's really irritating that you think you know what's best for _me_. I think that's my decision to make, not yours, yeah?”

Michael rubbed his face with his hands as he made a whiny noise at the back of his throat. Gavin merely glared at him.

“It's not that I think I know what's best for you,” Michael eventually said, “It's that I know I'm not good for anyone.” Gavin scoffed at that and rolled his eyes as he turned to leave. “Where the fuck are you going?” Michael asked him a when a few steps were taken.

Gavin threw his hands up. “My house,” he said as if it were the most obvious thing and Michael was stupid for asking.

“I'm not going to let you get there on foot!” Michael yelled after him.

“Oh, so you think I'm safer with _you_?” Part of Gavin hated himself for using that kind of attitude with Michael, but he used it anyway. He also didn't bother to look at Michael or stop walking.

“Just let me give you a ride home, Gavin,” Michael urged, and it was the first time Gavin had heard such a tone from him.

“I thought you wanted me to stay away.”

“ _Gavin_!”

The Brit halted in his tracks and threw his head back as he mentally asked why he ever allowed himself to get into the situation he was currently in before turning around. Michael's eyes brightened; he hadn't believed Gavin would give in and despite the terrible state their little relationship had entered, Gavin found that amusing. He just didn't show it.

“My house is far from here,” he murmured as he hurried back and hoped onto Michael's motorcycle. Normally, he would have expected to find Michael smiling at that. There had been moments, before and after their night rides, where a small argument would occur for one reason or another (usually over a misunderstanding), but when it was cleared up and Gavin was cooling off, Michael would smile. Either it was funny to him, the things Gavin would say when he was trying to relax from being irked, or he was relieved things didn't get worse between them.

But now... now wasn't like those times. There hadn't been full on shouting exchanged or anything beyond that, and yes, the argument did seemed to be finished, but enough things were said to know that things between them had officially reached the status of “worse”. In fact, they had gone way past that, right onto “over”. And that was nothing Michael wanted to smile about.

Michael drove at the appropriate, legal speed. He remained on his lane and never dared to make one dangerous move around the cars. It was a peacefulness Gavin was honestly uncomfortable with and he suddenly yearned for the opposite – to have to squeeze Michael tighter as a reassurance. His arms were only loosely wrapped around Michael's waist now and he kept the rest of his body as far as he could manage it, even though he wanted to scoot in closer and rest his chin on Michael's shoulder.

By the time they reached his house, he felt the emptiness settle in. This would be the last time he would be getting off the motorcycle, the last time he would even see it outside of his home, and the last time he would see its owner sitting upon it wearing that same brown leather jacket that he was so attached to, for some reason still unknown to Gavin, and well, it would have to remain that way now.

As he got off the vehicle, he took a deep breath and looked Michael in the eyes for the last time. There was a wall Michael had put up, Gavin could sense it. Michael was guarding himself, shielding away whatever he was feeling inside, preventing Gavin any chance of figuring it out, and perhaps it was better that way, because knowing how Michael felt would only add to the many emotions running through him already. Gavin opened his mouth to speak and was left with a mouth hanging open as Michael spoke first.

“You said you didn't like me and never would,” yes, he was definitely shielding away everything.

Gavin nodded once. “I did say that.”

“Then what changed?”

“I got to know you.”

A smirk that made its way across Michael's face but it was anything but nice to see. How was something that was supposed to portray emotion fail to do so? It was gone, just as quickly as it appeared and Gavin felt the aching pull in his chest.

“I'll see you around, British boy,” Michael feigned the joyous tone with those words while the engine of the motorcycle roared back to life.

“Don't lie to me,” Gavin softly responded. Michael glanced up at him and sighed.

“I can't say it to you, though, Gavin,” he was barely whispering, “I've dealt with enough 'goodbyes' in my life; I don't need another.”

“Does that mean there's still a chance?” Michael pursed his lips and brought his hand up to run his fingers through his hair, searching for a way of answering that without completely saying “no”. Gavin staring at him with wide, hopeful eyes only added to the difficulty. There was no other way. Michael couldn't sugarcoat it – that wouldn't be fair.

Gavin shut his eyes for a moment, taking in the whole ordeal again. He knew what he wanted to say next and he knew it was mostly just him not wanting to believe this, but he was determined to say it anyway. He was determined to help Michael understand more of how he did feel, about how much their nightly rides and simply being together meant to him. He inhaled through his nose and opened his eyes again as he exhaled slowly through parted lips.

“I'll continue to wait every night.” Instead of perking up at that as Gavin thought he would, Michael slumped into his seat further and faced forward.

“Don't waste your time,” he then remarked, his jaw tightening. If there was a likelihood of a heart literally getting ripped from inside and crushed, then that would be what was happening to Gavin. It sure did feel that way, more than anything. He took a few steps back until there was decent space between him and Michael and forced himself to resist the urge to speak again. There was no longer any use. He had said what he wanted, at least to an extent, and Michael had listened, yet nothing was going to change.

Michael gripped the handlebars tightly, to the point where his knuckles turned white, and though he wanted to spare one last glance toward the Brit, he just rode off at his usual speed. Gavin watched him go, but he disappeared down the street in moments and he frowned as he turned to head to the front door. The helmet was still resting on his lawn, right where he'd tossed it, and he bent down to pick it up. He hugged it against his chest as he started to walk on. His head was low as he stepped through the door and closed it behind him, so he truly was startled by the sound of his mother's voice.

“What are you doing here? Why aren't you at school?!”

Gavin's brows twitched as he looked up to see her standing in the archway that led into the kitchen. “I had a long night and I'm too tired to deal with school today,” he answered her dully, making his way to the staircase.

“You're too _tired_? You certainly were never too _tired_ to go out every night with your mysterious little friend!”

Gavin stopped as he reached the middle of the steps and looked at her over his shoulder. “Oh, so you've noticed?”

“It's insulting that you think I wouldn't.”

“Hmm,” Gavin shrugged a shoulder and resumed up the stairs, “You won't have to worry about that anymore, I can assure you.”

His mother sighed loudly and placed her hands on her hips, staring up at him with a scowl. “Go on and get yourself ready for school. I will _not_ allow you to stay home all day.” Gavin said nothing more to her and she decided not to argue on it any longer, either.

He didn't go to school that day. He spent his time holed up in his bedroom, sitting on the ground by the edge of his bed as he indulged himself in video games by himself. His teacher had given him a make up day for his test, one that he hardly took advantage of since he didn't take the time to study more, and he wasn't even sure what he was answering half the time. It went by as a blur, but luckily, he did alright on it in the end.

As he had told Michael, he waited.

Every night, he would set an alarm for midnight in case he somehow fell asleep beforehand and as soon as the time struck to twelve, he was up and by his window. He would stare out onto the emptiness of the street with only an occasional car driving past, but never a familiar sight or sound of a Vader.

Sometimes, he would make it back to his bed to sleep. Other times, he would sit against his window and lean his head on the wall, falling into a deep slumber then and there and waking to the feeling of his heart strings getting tugged with disappointment that another night had gone without Michael.

A week passed...

Gavin began to think that maybe Michael would show up after a week, but then another passed and there was still nothing. Yet he refused to give up. He wanted to keep waiting. He wanted to hold onto that little chance that was hanging by the weakest thread and the fact that his relationship with his own mother seemed to dissipate with each passing day, the more he felt drawn to waiting...

Until one particular morning that he woke on the floor and realized that there was only so much waiting he could do. Why wait around for a person that didn't want to be waited for? It was such a waste of the time he could use to sleep at a decent hour and he was was honestly exhausted. Almost two months of waiting around by his window at midnight and he was done. He couldn't say he was ready to let go of Michael, but he was ready to try, and it was better than nothing.

They were strangers the night they first rode together through the city and perhaps they never stopped being that – _strangers._

The rest of his school year had gone in a blur. His summer was spent indoors, fiddling around on his laptop with any distractions he could lose himself into. The days that he would go out, it would be to the beach when the sun was about to set and he would sit to watch it do so before getting up and just going back without another care for anything else. His senior year arrived, but he went through everyday on repeat – waking up, getting ready, eating breakfast, going to school, going to his classes, lunch, more classes, and then home to do homework and whatever the hell else he felt like doing to pass the time to do it all over again the next morning.

He didn't care to attend his own graduation, so his diploma was mailed home. “It was a beautiful ceremony. It was a shame you couldn't be there,” the message attached had said, apparently from his principal. Gavin slammed it onto the coffee table. Maybe his mother would see it later, maybe she wouldn't; it wasn't something he was going to dwell over, just like nothing else was anymore.

But high school was over now, thus marked the end of him being able to go through life the way he had been without worrying about other things. He had to make a change and he discovered what it would be when he turned the TV and found himself fascinated with the current news story. The corners of his lips rose as he jumped up from his seat to retrieve his laptop from his bed upstairs.

* * *

 

“How the fuck did you do that so quickly?”

Gavin smirked at the sound of amazement that question came with from the man looming over his shoulder to see what was displayed on the computer screen in front of him.

“I don't want to sound egotistical by saying this, but I told you I would know what to do, and it wasn't as tricky as you made it out to seem,” Gavin told him, looking up to meet his hardened gaze as he read the words on the screen.

“But this has... _everything_ about that asshole.”

“Oh, that's not all of it,” Gavin said as he scrolled down the list. He could barely resist a laugh when he heard the gasp.

“Ryan, are you seeing this shit?!” The man shouted over to his colleague on the other side of the room in front of a mirror. Ryan paused from stroking his face with the paint brush to look back at the two with a raised eyebrow. He wandered to their side to read the information himself.

“Hmm,” he nodded, “Kid knows his stuff.”

“Kid's a fucking genius!”

“I'm twenty-five, Geoff,” Gavin sighed, “and I have been working in this kind of field since I was eighteen, so I do know my stuff well,” he grinned. Ryan smiled back at him, shaking his head, and headed back to where the mirror was.

“And he's a cocky little shit, too,” Geoff grumbled, stepping away from him and the computer. “Alright, then, so how much do we owe you?” Gavin grabbed his lower lip in-between his teeth and chewed on it gently as he chose his next words carefully.

“Uh, I didn't take this job for a quick pay.” Geoff and Ryan both turned their heads to stare at him questioningly, then exchanged alarming looks at each other.

“Then what the fuck do you want?” Geoff asked, a small crack in his voice from the annoyance rising within him. He was always a man who wanted things to be done the way they had originally been planned from the beginning. Anything that came at the last minute was never the best of ideas, but Gavin didn't seem as a bad person, so fine, he would listen this one time.

Gavin took a deep breath before standing from his seat. “I would like a spot on your crew,” he bluntly stated, that grin of his widening. First Geoff snorted, then he full on laughed at how unable he was to believe had just came out of the Brit's mouth, but after seeing that Gavin was making no move or saying that he was joking, Geoff stopped laughing and furrowed his eyebrows.

“You think it's _that_ easy?” He asked.

“Of course not. The Fake AH Crew wouldn't be known as one of the most feared and intelligent gangs in Los Santos if it was that easy to get in.”

“Then why are you wasting your time right now? Let me just get you your well deserved payment and you can be on your way. We'll contact you if we ever need you again, but that's highly unlikely. We already have enough connections to hackers and even one guy on the crew that knows a few things, too. The only reason we let you do this for us was because you were available.”

Gavin's grin slowly faltered. “That's fine, then.”

“Just let me how much to pay you; I'll give it to you. You did a good job and I appreciate it.”

“I don't want your money.”

“But I'm not letting you into the crew-”

“I understand,” Gavin nodded, waving him off. He looked over at Ryan as he said, “It was nice meeting you.”

“Yeah, nice meeting you, too,” Ryan responded, flashing him a quick smile.

Gavin couldn't help but return it as he thought about something. “I never thought the man who wears the _creepiest_ looking mask would have such a simple name as _Ryan_.” He faced forward to look at Geoff again, “The name _Geoff_ suits you, though.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Geoff smiled as he patted Gavin's back.

“I can't say anything about the other three, since you were really the only one I knew by the face and name until Ryan.”

“Which is more than anyone else knows, so go on and feel special about that, Gavin,” Geoff told him as he started leading him toward the door, “And like I said, we will contact you again _if_ we need your help-” he was abruptly cut off by the door flying open and a loud voice following.

“Afternoon, assholes!” And in stepped Michael, throwing his arms up as he proudly sauntered further into the room to announce his presence, but his face fell immediately when his eyes locked with Gavin's and he froze in his tracks. Gavin held his breath to prevent from gasping at the sight of Michael, _the_ very same Michael he'd met eight years earlier, except much older now. And he was _still_ wearing that exact same brown leather jacket, but Gavin couldn't help but notice that it now fit in all the places it didn't before. The entirety of it all hit him like a ton of bricks and he had to release his breath and swallow hard to regain himself.

“Oh, right on time,” Geoff said with a fond smile as he gestured to Gavin, “This is the genius hacker that just finished solving our answers to our biggest problem.” Michael widened his eyes as he looked back and forth between the two.

“ _What_?” He asked.

“Well you can try looking a little more happy about it.”

“Uh, I-I am, but, uh,” Michael sputtered, scratching the back of his head. His eyes then met Gavin's once more and he squinted. Gavin tensed a little under that gaze but other than that, he made no other notion that he recognized Michael by any means.

“I was just leaving now,” Gavin finally spoke, impressed with himself at how calm and collected his tone was compared to Michael's. He nodded to Geoff and at Ryan and headed past Michael to reach the door while Michael merely stared after him in awe.

“Okay, I'm going to take it you two _know_ each other?” Geoff asked. Gavin stopped walking and frantically shook his head as he faced Geoff. Michael frowned.

“Well,” Gavin sighed, crossing his arms over his chest and Michael looked at him excitedly, “We may have once.” And just like that, the excitement was replaced by disappointment. Gavin left without another word and once he was on the other side of the door, he let out a shaky breath.

Okay... okay... he was fine. There was no need to let every single feeling to return, every feeling he pushed away so many years ago. It was simply _overwhelming_ to see Michael again, but surely he would get over it, just as he had before. But then the door opened behind him and Michael was there, looking at him with the softest expression.

“I'm going home,” Gavin muttered as he took a few steps away. He felt Michael grab his wrist and _cursed_ himself for looking back at him.

“Gavin,” Michael started, his voice a whisper, “I didn't know you still lived here.”

Gavin shrugged. “Surprise? I guess.”

“Well, _what the hell_?” Michael's volume rose suddenly and Gavin raised his eyebrows. “You're a _hacker_ now?”

“I got bored. I also needed to do _something_ with my life if I didn't want to stay in that house with my mum any longer.”

“But why would you-” Michael stopped himself as he let go of Gavin's wrist and rubbed his own face, clearly frustrated.

“You did say the same thing would happen to me that happened to you,” Gavin practically sang.

“Yeah, I know, Gavin. I know. I _also_ remember saying that you were different than that, so I didn't think you would let yourself go down this path!”

Gavin furrowed his eyebrows and stomped a little closer to Michael. “If you want survive around here, Michael, you don't have much of a choice! It _is_ Los Santos.”

“Shut the _fuck_ up, Gavin,” Michael growled as he wrinkled his nose.

“Why are you so angry about this anyway?”

“I just never wanted anything to happen to you!”

“Nothing has happened to me, Michael! It's been about seven years since I've started this and I've been fine!”

“Yeah, nothing has happened _yet_ ,” Michael took another step forward. “Do you realize, though, Gavin, that nothing might never happen until you're forty when you've probably retired from this shit already and someone has finally discovered that you were the one that spilled that that information about them that ruined their lives? That someone isn't going to let it go. No, they _never_ let it go and you're gonna end up with a fucking bullet through your head because you didn't watch your back better!”

“I'm offended that you think I do my work sloppy,” Gavin shot back, but calmer than Michael sounded, “I'm nothing like the person you met back then, Michael. I know better now, about a ton of things! And I'm hardly afraid of anything, _which_ I'll add is a little thanks to you,” he smirked and placed a hand on Michael's shoulder, “You showed me what it was like to _relax,_ and I appreciate it, love.”

Since the various looks going through Michael's face indicated that he had no idea what to say in response, Gavin dropped his hand and turned away.

“Gav, wait,” he seemed to choke out. Gavin obliged, mostly due to his curiosity of what Michael could actually say. “Did you... did you ever wait?”

The Brit breathed out a cold laugh, the clenching inside his chest causing his eyes to burn with tears he didn't know had been forming. He forced them to stay in as he faced Michael. “Every night for about two months.”

“I almost went one night,” Michael confessed, vulnerability laced into his tone. He sounded so small.

“And why didn't you, Michael? I would have welcomed you back with open arms.”

“I just...” Michael sighed in defeat and shrugged. Gavin slowly walked up to him until there wasn't much space between them anymore and he brought his hand up to brush some of Michael's hair to the side. He then moved his hand lower to rest upon Michael's cheek, a gesture that had Michael leaning into his touch.

“I do like to consider myself good at what I do,” Gavin told him, “I can get anything, any information out of anyone you could think of within a certain amount of time; I'm also not bad at reading someone and their motives when I first meet them now, but even so, I _still_ cannot seem to figure you out, Michael.” Michael's frown deepened and Gavin had to resist kissing any pain he was feeling away if possible.

“I missed you,” Michael whispered, placing his hand over the Gavin's. Gavin cocked his head to the side, but his lips twitched upward.

“Are you happy, Michael?”

Michael blinked at him a few times, his eyebrows knitting together as he considered the question. “W-what?”

“You told me you would get back to me on your answer to that. Do you remember?”

“Yeah,” Michael nodded.

“Alright, then... are you happy?”

Again, Michael appeared to be conflicted with answering, but he tried, “Being apart of the Fake AH Crew, uh, it doesn't feel like work half the time, you know? They're my family and they make me feel good, like I matter.”

“So, you are then?” Gavin asked before his eyes widened at the sight of Michael's watering.

“Is it bad if I say _I don't know_?” Michael asked him in return. “Because I _can't_ remember what it feels like to actually _be_ happy.” Ignoring the throbbing in his heart, Gavin leaned in and settled on planting a gentle kiss on Michael's forehead. A tear made its way down Michael's other cheek and Gavin wiped it off with his free hand.

“I'm confident that one day your answer to that question will be a 'yes'.” Michael averted his eyes, wanting to believe Gavin's words, but unsure if he could. Gavin pulled his hand away and licked his lips, mentally preparing himself for what he was going to say next. “Uh, it was nice seeing you again, Michael.”

“Um, yeah, um,” Michael paused to clear his throat and roughly wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. He rolled his shoulders and looked up to meet Gavin's gaze, more of the poised expression Gavin knew so well on his face. “Yeah, nice seeing you, too, Gav. And... thanks for,” he nodded toward the door, “helping us out.”

“Of course.”

“Yeah, if _you_ ever need anything, you know where to find me. I live somewhere else downtown, but I'm _usually_ here, so.”

Gavin grinned lopsidedly and said, “Oh, don't worry, Michael. I could probably try looking you up somehow,” he winked. Michael snorted.

“Good fucking luck with that. I'm _amazing_ at covering up everything about myself.”

“I guess I'll have to see about that.”

“Yeah, you fucking will,” Michael was laughing. Gavin joined in with his laughter for a bit before they ended up standing there in mere silence. With one more longing exchange of looks to each other, Gavin turned around and walked off, but he had a new kind of feeling stirring within him – determination to crack the code that was _Michael_.

 


End file.
